Classical electromagnetism

Classical electromagnetism describes electric and magnetic fields, their sources, and their interactions with charged matter through Maxwell’s equations. It accounts for electromagnetic waves and forces without quantum mechanics.

Maxwell's equations: Four equations relating electric and magnetic fields to charge, current, and changing fields. They state the field laws at the heart of classical electromagnetism.
Electric charge: A property of matter that produces and responds to electromagnetic interactions. Charge is the source of electric fields and the quantity acted on by them.
Coulomb's law: A law giving the electrostatic force between two point charges in proportion to their product and inverse squared separation. It is an early quantitative law incorporated into the broader field theory.
Electrical circuit: An interconnected path through which electric current can flow. Circuit behavior can be derived from electromagnetic fields under suitable approximations.
Quantum electrodynamics: The quantum field theory of electromagnetic interactions between charged particles and photons. It extends electromagnetic theory to phenomena that classical fields cannot describe.
Lorentz force: The force on a charged particle moving through electric and magnetic fields. It describes how electromagnetic fields act on charged matter.
Electric field: A vector field giving the electric force per unit positive test charge at each point. It is one of the two fields whose behavior the theory describes.
Oersted's experiment: Hans Christian Ørsted’s 1820 observation that an electric current deflects a compass needle. It revealed a direct connection between electricity and magnetism.
Antenna: A device that transmits or receives electromagnetic waves. Antenna design uses field theory to relate currents to radiated waves.
Electrostatics: The study of electric fields and charges that do not vary with time. It is a restricted limit of classical electromagnetism with static sources.

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